The limited available treatment options for patients with chronic lung diseases, such as fibrosis, lead to poor prognosis after diagnosis and short survival rates. An exciting new bioengineering approach utilizes de- and recellularization of lung tissue to potentially overcome donor organ shortage and immune reactions toward the received transplant. The goal of decellularization is to create a sca

The porcine and human pathogen Streptococcus suis induces and degrades neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in vitro. In this study, we investigated the working hypothesis that NET degradation is mediated not only by the known secreted S. suis nuclease A (SsnA) but also by a so-far undescribed putative endonuclease A of S. suis (designated EndAsuis) homologous to the pneumococcal endonuclease A (

In this paper we are investigating how project complexity is affecting the management of single projects in a multi-project environment. The project manager’s perspective is applied. A conceptual framework is developed in order to summarize how project complexity effect project management. The framework is applied to two cases and conclusions are drawn.

Metallic cast components inevitably contain defects such as shrinkage cavities which are inherent to the solidification process. Those defects are known to significantly alter the fatigue life of components. Yet very little is known, quantitatively, on the dangerosity of internal casting defects compared to surface ones. In this study, fatigue specimens containing controlled internal defects (shri

Abstract The microstructure of porous silver layers produced under different low temperature pressure-assisted sintering conditions is characterized and linked with the mechanical behavior studied insitu during X-ray diffraction. Peak profile analysis reveals important strain recovery and hardening mechanism during cyclic deformation. The competition between both mechanisms is discussed in terms o

Visible light Zernike phase contrast (ZPC) microscopy is a well established method for imaging weakly absorbing samples. The method is also used with hard x-ray photon energies for structural evaluation of material science and biological applications. However, the method suffers from artifacts that are inherent for the Zernike image formation. In this Letter, we investigate their origin and experi

We present our successful efforts to improve intuitive programming of synchronized dual-arm operations in industrialrobotic assembly tasks. To this end we extend an earlier proposed skill representation (based on our work with ontologies for industrial robots) and our respective programminginterface to integrate options for the specification, adaptationand refinement of synchronization points, syn

This study analyses cross-border capital flows in order to verify the existence and direction of the effect of the soft regulation promoted by international organizations against banking secrecy which characterized the so called tax and financial heavens. This effect is called in the literature Stigma Effect, but both the existence and the direction of the stigma effect are far from being obvious.

Prior research established that simultaneously holding discrepant explicit (deliberate, controlled) and implicit (automatic, uncontrolled) self-esteem gives rise to self-enhancing behaviours. Given that individuals tend to enhance their self-concepts with brands that are associated with positive identities, this study examined whether self-esteem discrepancy was related to the extent to which indi

I present an alternative to a widely used item-bias analysis procedure known as the ANOVA method. The new method is based on the Johnson-Neyman procedure, which is a multiple regression-based technique with properties that can overcome the major weaknesses of the ANOVA method. I introduce the proposed procedure in a non-technical manner, provide an illustrative example, and suggest guidelines for

In this chapter, the author presents a brief introduction of marketing and market research, and subsequently highlights the contemporary developments that influence current thinking in these areas. By familiarizing marketing academics and practitioners with the state-of-the-art discussions, this chapter aims at improving the knowledge and understanding of marketing and market research, as well as

BACKGROUND: Detailed assessments of mortality patterns, particularly age-specific mortality, represent a crucial input that enables health systems to target interventions to specific populations. Understanding how all-cause mortality has changed with respect to development status can identify exemplars for best practice. To accomplish this, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors

Coexistence between humans and wildlife faces challenges for wildlife as well as human wellbeing and livelihoods. Learning, development, and transformative change in the adaptive use of management interventions across cultures and species are highly needed. This calls for thorough evaluation of interventions on both ecological and human dimensions parameters. Existing evaluations of management int

Streptococcus suis is an important meningitis-causing pathogen in pigs and humans. Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) have been identified as host defense mechanism against different pathogens. Here, NETs were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of S. suis-infected piglets despite the presence of active nucleases. To study NET-formation and NET-degradation after transmigration of S. suis

NETs (neutrophil extracellular traps) have been described as a fundamental innate immune defence mechanism. During formation of NETs, the nuclear membrane is disrupted by an as-yet unknown mechanism. In the present study we investigated the role of human cathelicidin LL-37 in nuclear membrane disruption and formation of NETs. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that 5 μM LL-37 significantly fac

BACKGROUND: Aquaporins (AQPs) are integral membrane proteins that facilitate transport of water and/or other small neutral solutes across membranes in all forms of life. The X Intrinsic Proteins (XIPs) are the most recently recognized and the least characterized aquaporin subfamily in higher plants. XIP1s have been shown to be impermeable to water but permeable to boric acid, glycerol, hydrogen pe

Background: A family history of diabetes (FHD) is a strong predictor of diabetes risk, yet has rarely been investigated in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA). This study therefore investigated the risk of LADA and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in relation to FHD, taking into account the type of diabetes in relatives. Methods: Data from a population-based study were used, including incident cases

The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of how the resilience of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) systems to hazards can be improved. In turn, this aims to inform different strategies for public and private partnerships (PPPs). In a new approach, to acknowledge the multi levelled nature of resilience; risk at the relevant levels are taken into account, (regional/river basin, urban ar